Professional Organizations

Board Certification

Internal Medicine

Gastroenterology

Research

Dr. Owyang's research interests focus on neurohormonal control of digestive functions including pancreatic endocrine and exocrine secretion, GI motility and eating behavior. Ongoing in vivo human studies include investigation of the mechanism responsible for feedback regulation of CCK release and the effect of pancreatic insufficiency on intrapancreatic pressure and pain. These types of studies hopefully will yield useful information toward identifying the subgroup of patients with chronic pancreatitis who may respond to enzyme replacement. His laboratory is performing studies to investigate the circuitry of the enteric nervous system in different regions of the GI tract and determine the mechanisms of information processing. Other animal studies include functional brain stem mapping to characterize the neural circuit in the NTS and vagal motor nucleus responsible for mediating gastric motility. In pathophysiological studies, he has developed a number of disease models mimicking diabetic gastroparesis to investigate the molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for selective nitrergic neuropathy and destruction of the interstitial cell of Cajal in diabetic conditions. Dr. Owyang and his colleagues have begun to investigate the mechanism governing nutrient sensing and peptide secretion by enteroendocrine cells including novel taste-like pathways. These studies may provide promising targets for new strategies to combat obesity and diabetes.